“Focus” on Ben Gloddy

“Focus” on Ben Gloddy

It has been a couple weeks since I last sent an update and boy have I been busy! I have been getting in some extra school work this summer taking an extra class about fitness, health and setting goals, as well as doing a lot of downhill mountain biking, swimming and working.

After my weekend at NJ Mini GP, I was at New York Safety Track for a couple days of training with Penguin School During their Ducati Dealership Event. That was a lot of fun, I had never been to that track and it was a fun place to ride my 300. It has a lot of elevation changes – it is on top of a mountain! The highlight of my weekend there – getting to meet a legend, Mr. Eraldo Ferracci and his wife! He is so full of knowledge and having a chance to spend some time with him was very cool! After that, I went on a mountain biking trip in Vermont. On one of those days, I did 26 miles up and down mountain trails, talk about a great workout!

This past weekend though, It was great to finally get back to Loudon (NHMS) after a 6 week break from racing there. On Friday, during Penguin Racing School, I worked on getting used to the track again and getting the cobwebs out of my head from the last time I was there and crashed in turn one. I was feeling pretty good and wasn’t too intimidated by turn one. After getting in some great sessions throughout the day, I felt like I was ready to race on Saturday.

Saturday morning, it was raining for my two morning practices, so I got to have some fun riding in the rain! The track had dried up in time for my Combined 300 Supersport Race in the afternoon. I had practiced in the morning on my rain bike, but raced my “A” bike. During my race, I knew something wasn’t right on the bike and my brakes kept fading. I was able to finish 8th overall. When I came, I was not happy with my finish and talked to Keith (step-dad/mechanic) about what was going on with my bike during the race. We went through my bike and were able to find the issue and get it corrected for Sunday’s races.

On Sunday, I entered two races, the Combined 500 Supersport and the Combined 300 Superbike. The weather was great and I had a great practice in the morning. In the Combined 500 Supersport race, I felt really good and my bike felt 100% better than the day before. I was able to get my lap times down and finished the 500 race on my Ninja 300 in 6th place out of 12 riders.

There was a red flag that delayed the races for quite a while, a few people had to be transported to the local hospital – Wishing the injured riders a quick recovery! My second race on Sunday was the 300 Superbike Race. I had a great start and finished in 3rd place. I was making good times around the track and felt like I was closing the gap, but this race was also red flagged and they called the race after a 3 laps (8 lap race).

I had a lot of fun this past weekend and am anxious to head back to Loudon in September. This week, I am preparing to head to Canaan Fair Speedway (NH) with the Penguin Racing School for some great track time, coaching and racing. They are having a Dealership Challenge and some other fun racing events, it is going to be a lot of fun!!

Check out the attached photo, courtesy of Bob Stengel 22photos.net. This picture was taken on Friday during the Penguin Racing School event at Loudon.

We have also been working to create/update my new website, please check it out!